#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Will Packer Speaks, Racist Kansas City Police Dept. HBCU to Close, Covid $$ Used for Law Enforcement

Episode Date: April 2, 2022

4.1.2022 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Black Men & Economic Recovery, S.C.& Amputation Rates, Men of Change Exhibit, Color Noir Producer Will Packer is speaking publicly about what happened at the Oscars for the first time. We'll show you parts of that Good Morning America interview with T.J. Holmes. Kansas City civil rights groups have long known their police department had high incidences of violence against Black and Latino people and racist hiring practices. The groups even called for a DOJ investigation.    Now, an investigation by a local Kansas newspaper has some proof. Tonight, the President and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City will tell us what happened to their plea to the DOJ. An investigative report uncovers how many police departments across the county used Covid relief funds. We'll talk to the journalist who followed the money. March proved to be an excellent month for job creation, but what did it look like for us. I spoke to Cecilia Rouse, Chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, who broke down the numbers. #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: Nissan | Check out the ALL NEW 2022 Nissan Frontier! As Efficient As It Is Powerful! 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/3FqR7bP Support #RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered Venmo ☛https://venmo.com/rmunfiltered Zelle ☛ [e-mail] Annual or monthly recurring #BringTheFunk Fan Club membership via paypal ☛ https://rolandsmartin.com/rmu-paypal/ Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com #RolandMartinUnfiltered and the #BlackStarNetwork are news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scape. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? Today is Friday, April 1st, 2022. Here's what's coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. Oscar producer, my alpha brother, Will Packer, is speaking publicly about what happened at the Oscars on Sunday.

We'll show you what he said regarding the slap by Will Smith against Chris Rock, about also the L.A. police being ready to arrest Will Smith, and who actually wanted Will to stay to accept his best actor. Is the Academy lying? Will breaks it down in the exclusive with TJ Holmes of Good Morning America.

Kansas City civil rights groups have long known their police department had high incidents of violence against black, Latino people people and racist hiring practices. The groups even called for a Department of Justice investigation. Now an investigation by the local newspaper has proof. Tonight we'll talk with the president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City and will tell us what happened to their plea to the DOJ. An investigative report uncovers how many police departments across the country use in the greater Kansas City, and will tell us what happened to their plea to the DOJ.

An investigative report uncovers how many police departments across the country use COVID relief funds to fund their operations. But it's supposed to be for COVID. We'll talk to the journalists who followed the money. March proved to be an excellent month for job creation, but what did it look like for African Americans? Well, you'll hear from Cecilia Rouse,

chair of President Joe Biden's Council of Economic Advisors. Also, the House voted to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level. Republicans in the House also blocked the naming of a courthouse of the first black Supreme Court Justice in Florida. I told y'all they don't like black people. And the United States issued a warning to South Sudan

for not adhering to the 2018 peace agreement with Sudan. We'll have a Sudanese human rights activist who happens to be a former child slave give us an update on what's happening in between those two countries. And two black students at Georgia State University sat at campus. Apparently got escorted out of class by campus cops

being two minutes late. Oh, we got problems here, Georgia State. In our Education Matters segment, we'll talk to Georgia's candidate for state superintendent. Folks, it's time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the mess, he's on it.

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It's rolling,oro, yo. It's Rollin' Martin, yeah. Rollin' with Rollin' now. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best, you know he's Rollin' Martin now. Yeah. Martin! All right, folks, a new report reveals a pattern of racial malpractice within the Kansas City Police Department ranks. Some 25 current and former black officers with the KCPD describe a police department littered with discrimination, racist abuse, and a system that pushes black officers out of the department

while keeping the top brass primarily white. Officers say their accounts are backed by department emails, internal police memos, legal documents, lawsuits, and videos. This report was done by the Kansas City newspaper. Now, several human and civil rights organizations in the Kansas City area want the Department of Justice to investigate. Gwen Grant, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, joins us from there. Glad to have you here.

So walk us through this. Y'all have been, of course, complaining about these things for years. But to have your newspaper break it down certainly is a little hard for them to now ignore. You're absolutely right, Roland. break it down, certainly is a little hard for them to now ignore. You're absolutely right, Roland. And thank you for having me on to talk about this very important issue in Kansas City. We started looking at the Kansas City Police Department in 2019, actually, because we had become aware of numerous cases of excessive and deadly force, constitutional violations,

patterns of systemic violations, including police-involved shootings with no accountability, biased and unreasonable searches and seizures, and racism inside the police department that has been documented over time and shared within the civil rights community by officers on the force who were afraid for fear of retaliation or being left out in the field and putting their lives at risk. So what we found is just a consistent degree of patterns and practices that we consider to be severe civil rights violations. We submitted a letter to the Department of Justice in July of 2021 requesting that they do a patterns and practices investigation of the Kansas City Police Department.

We've got a bad situation here in Kansas City, and the Star report pretty much just elevated what we've known to be going on for several years. So what is the reaction from the city? What are elected officials saying? Well, that's one of the major problems we have. Kansas City is the only major city in the United States that does not have local control of its police department. So basically what we have, we're in a 21st century colonialism situation where the governor appoints the police board. We have no redress with regard to any of the challenges we find within the Kansas City Police Department because that board is appointed by the governor and only accountable to the governor. Okay, hold on. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Okay, hold on. I'm trying to understand.

Look, I've covered city, I've covered city government, I've covered county government in multiple cities. Who hires the police chief? The police board, the board that the governor appoints. But, oh, but Roland, it gets worse. We pay, the taxpayers pay, we fund the police department over which we have no control. Wait, wait, hold on, hold on, hold on again. I said colonialism, Roland. Okay, hold on, I'm trying to follow this here. So you have a city council in Kansas City?

Yes. You have a mayor and a city council? Yes. Okay. Who are elected by the people? Yes. Okay. You've got a police board appointed by the governor

that oversees the police department. Yes. Are the people on the police board all from Kansas City? Yes, they are, but, so that's another important point. They are from Kansas City, but the governor, historically, we looked at that and we found that the governor, all governors, be they Republican or Democrat, these governors have acquainted primarily white men who live in the Brookside area or west of

Truce, which is basically, we have this racial dividing line in Kansas City, Truce Avenue on the east side of Truce is where you find concentrated African-American residents living there. And it's where, you know, it's the racial dividing line. So it's like a city divided east and west of Truce. Life looks totally different. East side is black. West side is predominantly white, upper middle class and above. So the governor appoints primarily white, male and female attorneys to the police board. We get one seat on that board who is the mayor. So he appoints four of five members. One is the mayor. Our mayor right now happens to be black,

but unfortunately our mayor has also not been showing up in a manner that we want him to show up on our behalf with regard to the police department. But, yeah, so the governor appoints lawyers. Most of the appointees of the governor, the white appointees, are attorneys, which makes sense. You're appointing people to serve and to govern over a law enforcement body. It makes sense that you would appoint an attorney. But when governors have chosen to, on the rare occasions when they have chosen to appoint an African American, they like to appoint preachers, educators, folks who are not necessarily able to hold their own in that context on that board with all of these people who are lawyers. And I find that to be insulting that you're going to put surround, you know, put lawyers on a board that is to govern over law enforcement and then to represent the black people, ask the local senator here,

the person who was senator at the time, I want to appoint a black preacher to the police board. That kind of stuff happens here. So, let's, so, this is the, so it's called the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners, correct? Yes, yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. Go to my computer. We have a black chair right now.

Right. So I'm looking at it right now. So Mark Tolbert, to your point, Bishop Mark Tolbert, was appointed by Governor Greitens 2017. Then you have Kathy Dean. She's the vice president. We have Dan Wagner. First of all, Kathy Dean is, let's see, what the hell does she do? She's a retired attorney. Right.

She's a significant courtroom experience guy. We've got Commissioner Don Wagner, who is a private investor. We've got Don Kramer, who worked in the airline industry and is in the financial services industry. And then we have the mayor, Quentin Lucas, the secretary of the board. He is David Kenner. And he was an instructor with the Henry W. Block School of Management. He was a previously he was actually a former lawyer. So so we got one white guy, one black guy, black white woman, white man, white woman, and a black board. So this is the story, folks, that started this.

It was in the, again, Kansas City Star headline, Racism in the KCPD. There's no thin blue line for black officers. Star investigation fines. Since this came out four days ago, what exactly is Bishop Tolbert saying? Well, you know, nothing. So we, neither the bishop nor the mayor, have made a statement condemning these racist practices inside the police department since the story ran. Period. Neither of the two black people who serve on that board have spoken up with outrage about this racism inside the police department. And that's really quite concerning that, you know, we would, we happen to have two black people on the board, but they seem to be, um, unable to, um, speak up and speak out

against racism. So Kansas city, um, know it well, my, um, late grandmother, great grandmother, uh, lived there. I still am. I'm a late aunt. My uncle and his wife still live there. Kansas City is 30% black. Yes. Go back to my computer, please, folks. This is the graph that is there in the Kansas City Star paper. The police chief is white. Of the five deputy chiefs, one is black.

Of 21 majors, three are black, 14.2%. Of the 50 police captains in the department, only three are black, that's 6%. Of the 223 sergeants, 25 are black, 11.2%. Of the 32 homicide detectives, three are black, 9.3%. Of the 22 assault detectives, three are black, 9.3%. Of the 22 assault detectives, three are black, 13.6%. Of the 213 detectives, 17 are black, 7.9%. Of the 1,144 sworn officers, only 133 are black,

that is 11%. So in a city that is almost 30% black, only 11.6% of the officers, and this is what's interesting here, y'all, it's 11.6 today. In 1998, it was 12.3. So in, really, y'all, in 14 or so, in 24 years, they've actually dropped.

Yes, you're absolutely right. And it's a tragic situation. So the problem also goes to the type of leadership, the outgoing police chief who started in 2017, we just, you know, was flat out racist and we called for him to be removed. We said that he should be terminated. We couldn't get that done in the manner that we had hoped with the two black members of the board of police commissioners. We asked them to, hey, stand up for the people, call for this man to be fired, and work to get the third vote. And neither of them would bring that motion because they said, well, we're not going to bring a motion that we can't win.

And we said, you know what? Show us that you care. Go public. Call for the motion. And put these other people on the spot to vote it up or down. So basically, we just kept applying pressure to this police chief who refused to provide probable cause statements to the prosecuting attorney's office in any instances when officers were involved in excessive and deadly force incidents.

His department would, they killed three black men, unarmed black men in the past 12 months when prior to our submitting the letter for the DOJ investigation. And in each of those cases, when those excessive force cases took place, this chief would have those officers back on duty with weapons while these cases were being investigated within within 10 days of a police-involved homicide. In less than 12 months, they killed three unarmed Black men, and they were still able to stay on the force and be paid. He, in the case when they do kill Black people, he also would allow for them to investigate the decedent and provide evidence against a dead person to the prosecutor before they even fully investigated the incident itself. So we've got a really bad situation here,

and we have no redress because we do not have local control of our department, and that's why we need the DOJ to come in and conduct this patterns and practices investigation. You showed. I'm trying to understand. Go ahead. I'm trying to understand this here. So because I look, I've talked about what's happening in St. Louis as well.

And let me be real clear. Missouri is weird as hell with some of these in terms of how the legislature, how they've actually passed different laws. So how many other cities in Missouri do not control their own police department? None. We're the only one in Missouri. Wait, wait, wait, wait, stop, stop.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. We're the only one. Kansas City, Missouri is the only city in Missouri where the city doesn't control its own police department that the governor, not even St. Louis, you're the only one that the governor appoints a board to control the police department? Yes, but we fund them though. $269 million a year.

Does the state fund the police department? No. The city funds our tax dollars. I actually have a suit pending. I am suing on behalf of the taxpayers in Kansas City. I am suing the Board of Police Commissioners and the city council and the city manager, all bringing forth a suit under what's called the Hancock Amendment in Missouri, that I, as a taxpaying citizen, can make this case, hopefully, and prevail in the courts. Well, what we cannot get done at the state legislature is that we can get at least control over the budget

and the spending of the department that we fund. So I have a lawsuit pending on behalf of the people to try to make that happen. So in the Star story, it says that President of the Board, Mark Tolbert, the Bishop, he did not respond to any requests. Only Commissioner Kathy Dean responded. No one else responded.

Obviously, the Paternal Order of Police, they ain't got a damn thing to say. So, what else are y'all doing there? Have y'all organized community town halls? Have y'all asked, first of all, when does the police board meet? So they meet on the second Tuesday of every month. And we actually shut down one of the police board meetings last year, sometime last year. We shut the meeting down to bring our concerns before the board. I think, frankly, y'all need to shut them down every Tuesday, every month. I mean, this is, I mean, I would, I think, I mean, if I'm in Kansas City, I'm like, yo, we gonna shut y'all down every single month until you address this issue.

Y'all ain't moving on any of this. And I'll be perfectly honest because I'm like that. Bishop couldn't have service. Well, you know, see, me and you are on the same page, on the same page, Roland, because the fact that the two black officers, you know, we got white people on that board. But when you, first off, they already know about how this police department has killed,

we have the, our police department is ranked in the top five worst police departments in the country. On average, they kill three unarmed black men a year with impunity. And then this article comes out that further tells the story of how they are racist in the department. They profile their own Black officers. One of the stories that was released on Sunday, they profiled Black officers. So if you're a Black man sitting on a board like this, how do you keep your mouth shut after that article comes out? How can you not have anything to say? over the spending, over the funding of the police department, where the state mandate requires the city to provide 20% of its general operating budget

to fund the police department. They last year got into a lawsuit issue with the city and between the city and the Board of Police Commissioners because the mayor found an ordinance to try to take control of the amount of funding that they provided the department that's over and above the 20% mandate. We backed him with that. We held a press conference on the steps of city hall backing that move. They ultimately lost in court because frankly, I don't think they had the best law firm to represent them. But anyway, they lost that case. And I filed a motion to

intervene in that case on behalf of the people. My motion to intervene was dismissed, which led to me ultimately filing the lawsuit that I have pending right now. coalesced with the chief of police and the board of police commissioners to draft this ordinance to give them $33 million above the 20% mandate and not take local control over that spending, as we all fought for and tried to get them to do. So we, you know, we are being misrepresented. As what we said today to the mayor, we had a meeting today to call out our concerns about this mayor. When you talk about, you know, shutting down a church service, well, we have a collective of community-based organizations and civil rights organizations. We meet every Friday morning at 8.30 in an urban summit meeting. And we took the mayor to task in that meeting this morning.

And he'll have an opportunity to come back next week and rebut or at least try to challenge it. But we are just tired of not being fully represented by our people. You know, we feel that this mayor, we've been hoodwinked, bamboozled, and misled by this man. And it's a shame to have two black people on a board and they can't speak up about racism and discrimination on behalf of the people that they are there to represent. It's unconscionable. Well, what we'll do is we will put calls into the mayor's office

to get him on the show to respond to this article. We'll also reach out to Bishop Tolbert and he'll get a call every single day. And they'll tell you it's a personnel issue and they can't discuss. Well, actually, that's a lie. That's a lie. That's a lie. As somebody who's covered who covered city government, that's a lie. That's a lie. That's a lie. As somebody who's covered city government, that's a flat out lie. I've had numerous interviews with police boards, with elected officials, with appointed officials. And so that is a lie. And so fine, if they don't talk, then they're going to get a phone call every day. So certainly let us know. I would love to know love to know if if y'all decide to organize a citywide citywide town hall to address this issue.

So certainly. Well, let me ask you this. If we organize a city, a citywide town hall, will you come in and and moderate that with me or help engage our community? Well, if you'll help me with that, we'll get that done because we need sunshine on this issue in Kansas City. One last thing about this local control issue that I will further irritate you is when we studied the history of this local control or how we ended up with local control. This was born out of a Confederate governor, a governor who decided at the beginning, early in the Civil War, that he needed to take control of the two police departments in the state where they had the highest concentration of Black people. That was St. Louis and Kansas City. Many people here think that the state took local control of the department because there was a pendergast era where there was a lot of

corruption in city government and in Kansas City, but it actually is based in the perpetuation and to protect the institution of slavery. And it was only targeted for the cities with high concentration of African Americans. So this situation here is really bad. We need you here to help us with it, Roland. Well, it's simple. Y'all suit us two or three dates. I'll look at the date to see how that corresponds with my calendar.

And then once we settle on a date, then we do it. We'll hook it up. I appreciate that. Go follow up with that. Alright, I appreciate it. Gwen Grant, thanks a lot. Thank you for having me. Alright, I'm going to bring in my panel right now. First of all, the KCPD did issue a statement. They said, quote, we have mechanisms in place to ensure that members can report any incident of discrimination or racism nonlessly, and we take every incident of reported racism very seriously and investigate fully whether it involves department members

or the members of the community. Kelly Bethea is a communications strategist. Michael Imhotep is host of the African History Network show. Matt Banning, civil rights attorney. Matt, what do you make of this? First of all, the fact that you have a law where the governor is appointing members of a police board in the city, people who are elected do not control is a problem. It's a huge problem, especially as it goes to accountability, because as we've talked about on this show many times, you know, you vote out people who aren't doing their job. So the idea that the local citizens don't even have control over their police department

is absurd. But beyond that, I mean, the story that I read was chronicling an undercover officer who was determined to be an undercover officer by some of his fellow officers, a Black officer. And he was berated by them and concerned that he was going to end up being hurt by making contact with his own officers. So, the idea that this is a persistent problem in this department and that it's been overlooked for years is incredibly concerning. And I think this is exactly the kind of circumstance where DOJ should come in and do a patterns and practice investigation to really see what's going on and, as Gwen said, put some sunshine on this issue.

Because if there's 30 percent Black people in a community and you have paltry numbers in the police department, then there's not enough to really galvanize support to make sure that those officers are being supported the way they should be. And it's happening in broad daylight, and the governor is allowing it to happen on his watch, particularly because there's no local control. So I hope DOJ comes in and does an investigation because this is precisely right for it. Kelly, this is the type of stuff, as you heard Gwen lay out, when you go back to the law. And I'm always trying to explain to people how we are still impacted today by Jim Crow laws. Today, when people say, oh, that stuff was so long ago. No, no, no, no. But that law is still in effect today. No, you're absolutely right. I'm sorry. It was a little delayed. No, you're absolutely right. I'm sorry, it was a little delayed. No, you're absolutely right. The fact that, you know, this is happening in 2022 should's no such thing as a blue life and it doesn't apply to black

people unless you conform to the whiteness um and the powers that be so for me it's it's it goes back to not only the notion that blue lives don't matter because blue lives don't exist but it also goes back to uh all skinfolk and kin. Like you just heard her say how you have Black people in power who could do something, voice something, and nothing is happening. So it is imperative that people look into just, look into beyond whether the person is Black, look into their policy record, Look into their voting record. Actually participate in local politics so that things like this don't happen. But you're absolutely right. The laws on the books are still in effect from the Jim Crow era, which is how and

why things like this are still able to happen. You know, it's just crazy reading this story, Michael. And this is also why communities have to be mobilized, have to be organized and mobilized to go up against this type of stuff. I'm actually texting some frat brothers who are in Kansas City right now, getting their thoughts on this. And I'm sorry, if you're the president of the board and you're a black bishop, you need to be talking. No comment is simply, no comment is unacceptable to me. Absolutely. Well, a lot of this is unacceptable, but definitely no comment is unacceptable

when you have an African-American man who is Bishop Talbert, I believe is his name, Mark Talbert, who's the chair of the board. But, you know, reading this, Roland, I mean, I had so many questions. So one of the things I was trying to figure out, OK, so Civil War era law. This is one of the reasons why understanding the Civil War and Reconstruction, that history is so important, because it still impacts us today. But is that, is it written into the state constitution or is it state law? That's one question I have. And one of the reasons why understanding that history is so important, how it still impacts us today, impacts the laws, is because if you go to Brunswick, Georgia, the citizens arrest law that the three white supremacists used

as a, to make up after the fact, after Ahmaud Arbery was killed, that citizens arrest law dates back to 1863 when Georgia was part of the Confederacy and there was a law to target runaway slaves who were run away from plantations in Georgia to run behind Union lines. So that legacy of the Civil War and Reconstruction is still with us today. This is why it's so important to understand history and law, because they intersect and they impact everything that we do. So, yeah, hopefully they get the DOJ involved in this. But the other thing I want to know is local TV news stations. I saw

the article from the Kansas City Star, but local Kansas City TV news stations. I wonder what type of pressure they're putting on the department. Because a lot of times that local news exposes a lot of this stuff and puts pressure on them to bring. No, no, no. Absolutely. Absolutely. And so I'm actually about to text also the brother who runs the Kansas City newspaper there. And so I guess thoughts on this as well. So we're going to we'll definitely continue to cover this and give folks updates on this particular story. All right, folks, we've got to go to a break. We come back. We're going to talk about what's happening in South Sudan. Why are we doing that?

Because mainstream media want to focus only on Ukraine. We're also going to talk about what's happening with black folks in Africa where you have a humanitarian crisis happening there as well. Folks, you heard me say to Gwen there that I certainly will come in and I'll moderate the town hall and we'll actually broadcast that town hall. This is precisely why it's important for you to support Roland Martin Unfiltered. Literally, I just went to our mailbox today. All of this, these are all checks and cards that were in the mailbox. This all came

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are. Ours is dollar sign RM unfiltered. So please report every single one of these people. And I'm going to show it again later in the show. Got to go to a break. We'll be back on Roller Mountain Unfiltered. I'm Deborah Owens. On the next Get Wealthy, meet Dr. Stacey McCoy, whose American dream became a nightmare because of student loan debt. Whether you're paying $300 a month or eventually I got up to $1,700 a month. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Hold that. Hold that for just a minute. You were paying $1,700 a month on your student loan?

Yes. And I know other people who are paying more than that. Learn the one piece of advice that made all of it go away. Right here on Get Wealthy on Blackstar Network. Over the window seats. These are the only bins that will accommodate larger rollerboards. They put tin in here? Tin, and you don't come out until you die. And you eat him, he pooped in. Oh my God. All right, folks, part five of our special from Ghana airs right after our show right here on Roland Martin on Unfiltered on the Black Star Network.

Trust me, you don't want to miss it. It's been phenomenal, phenomenal series thus far. So you be sure as soon as we get done, stay with us to check out part five of our docuseries, The Year of Return, 1619 to 2019. We'll be back in a moment. Pull up a chair, take your seat. The Black Tape with me, Dr. Greg Carr, here on the Black Star Network.

Every week, we'll take a deeper dive into the world we're living in. Join the conversation only on the Black Star Network. Hey, what's up, everybody? It's Godfrey, the funniest dude on the Black Star Network. Hey, what's up, everybody? It's Godfrey, the funniest dude on the planet. Hey, I'm Taj. I'm... According to the New Rear's report, South Sudan's leadership is now not following parts

of a 2018 peace deal. Now the United States is threatening to impose more sanctions on those perpetuating the conflict. Joining me now is Simon Ding, a Sudanese human rights activist who is very familiar with what's happening there. Simon, glad to have you here on Roller Martin Unfiltered. I reached out to my man Joe Madison. He passed me your name. You know, so much attention has been on the Ukraine and what's happening there. Explain to our listeners and viewers what is happening in South Sudan.

What's going on? Is Simon, is he frozen? Folks, is his Sigma frozen? All right, y'all let me know we have Simon back. I don't hear the voice. There you go, Simon. There you go. You're there.

Go ahead. I hear you, but I don't hear you. Can you hear me, Simon? Simon, can you hear me? Yes, I do hear you, Ron. Okay, you can hear me now? Yes. Good.

So explain to our folks watching and listening what's happening in South Sudan. Roland, what happened in Southern Sudan is a disaster. A disaster that the international community and the world in light turn a blind eye at the country that's being created by the United States. In other words, Southern Sudan is the only country in East Africa that was created by the United States of America. If it wasn't the United States, we would not have a country, a younger nation in the world today that calls Southern Sudan. After two years of independence, the president of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayadit, took the country into the war. The war that was worse than the war we fought with the North. In two years time

Selvaki managed to slaughter a half a million southern Sudanese. Today, at the moment we're speaking, southern Sudan is the worst place on earth with six million southern Sudanese refugees, largest and biggest refugees compared at the time when we were fighting for war or independence. You have two million southern Sudanese refugees in Uganda. You have two million and a half went back to Sudan at the moment we're speaking. And millions between Ethiopia, Kenya, Central African Republic, and Congo. We have hundreds of thousands. Southern Sudanese are being protected for eight years by the United Nations protection peacekeeper inside Southern Sudan, including Juba, Malacan, Wau, Djungle, even Bantu. It never happened in the history of the world where people are being protected in their own country by United Nations, and it happened in southern Sudan.

What are we talking about today? We're talking about Ukraine. Yes, the suffering of every human being, it is a concern of all of us. Southern Sudan, it is worse than Syria. It is worse than Ukraine when we're talking about. This is the magnitude of the crime being created by the sitting presidents and the world turn a blind eye. And by the way, I have a living proof of being part of advocates who was fighting and making Americans get involved to help southern Sudanese to bring peace between the north and the south. I know for sure the United States have moral obligations of a country they created. If it wasn't them, we would not have a country

called Southern Sudan today. Probably if we were left being left in the hand of the North, we will be better off. And half a million that perish in two years under Salvatore Maggiore, they would be alive. Imagine when you have two and a half a million that perish in two years under Salvatore Mejia, there would be a lie. Imagine when you have two and a half million southern Sudanese went back to the north,

a place where they ran away for brutalization of Islamization and Arabization. Now they went back. It is a better place for them today instead of being under the brutality of President Salvatore. That is what is

happening in southern Sudan today. Obviously, it should pain you that you're seeing so much attention being paid to Ukraine, folks raising money, offering scholarships for students there as well. What do you want

Americans, African-Americans, the international community, what are you telling them that they should be doing for the people in South Sudan? Brother Aaron, if it wasn't the United States, we would not have a Southern Sudan today. And especially the African-American. We have brothers who was part of helping Southern Sudanese.

They're still with us. People like Joe Madison and others. Even including in New York here, we have people like Al Shepton who went with us to liberate the slavery in Southern Sudan from the hand of the North back to southern Sudan. We have more we can do. As I said before, the world today has when to rescue Ukraine. Yes, I personally, I am volunteer to do something to help the Ukrainians. But why nobody is volunteer to do something for me, knowing that the refugees of Ukraine today

will not be compared to the refugees in southern Sudan? The killing of Ukraine today, it will not be compared to killing in southern Sudan. In other words, we have to urge the United States, including the President Biden, self-accountable. You cannot replace seven million, six millions, kill half a million. And then you are now trying to call yourself a legitimate president. People of southern Sudan, they suffer in the hands of the southern Sudanese government, in the hands of Salbaki, more than suffering that they were under the North. Questions from my panel. Michael, you want to take me first?

All right. Thanks, Brother Simon, for coming on and sharing this information with us. You know, this is really important to cover this because there's so much coverage on Ukraine and there's so much devastation happening on the continent of Africa also that doesn't get covered. Can you just talk briefly about how the U.S. helped create South Sudan? We know South Sudan split from Sudan, okay? Yes. Can you just talk briefly about that history because a lot of people don't don't know about this. You know when I came to this country, I came purposely on to come to people of America. Indeed, we did get help from the capitals, and especially under the times of President Bush, in which I met two times in the White House, in which he assured me, seeing the northern Sudanese blame the

slavery on the war, we are going to make peace. And indeed, he kept his promise. He kept everything he told to me, in which the United States Congress passed the Sudan Peace Act, passed by the Senate, signed into law by the President of the United States, in which the President of the United States designated former Senator John Danforth to go to Africa to fight the peace between the northern Sudanese and the southern Sudanese. Laird Colin Powell was part of the party who has pushed that peace, and that peace was being produced in Nairobi, which became known in Sudan as a comprehensive peace agreement.

United States, because for him to have peace, they put $11 billion. These are the taxpayers in which they have a responsibility. And I call it today, Southern Sudan is an American baby. And indeed, as I said, because I was there, if it was not the United States, we would not have Southern Sudan. After the independence, what happened? The U.S. walked away. Unfortunately, it happened during the administration of President Barack Obama, which is very unfortunate. We have people like Susan Reich. They were there. She was there with

me in Cuba. I was one of the people who received her when he went there during the independence, in which that he let Al-Aqsa speak during the independence. But what happened after that? They washed their hands, they walk away, and then turn the country in the hands of people who don't know how to balance the books, to run the country without accountability. The $11 billion we just gave them to appoint President Kirill with part of his administration,

they went and stolen $4 billion, disappeared in the hands of individuals. And the U.S., you're telling me that they should not hold people accountable by stealing the money that was given not to them, for the people of southern Sudan, to do the infrastructure to be even to rehabilitate. People who suffered for 25

years, nobody held them accountable. And unfortunately, Barack Obama let people of southern Sudan down. I'm going to go to Kelly next. Simon, I think the light in your office went out. Yeah, let me turn it on.

Yeah, go ahead and turn it back on. So, yeah, but Kelly, go ahead. But when Simon comes back, be sure to ask your question. So I just want to make sure that we're all good here. So just give us one second. Simon comes back. Again, folks, critically important information that we're getting because all too often in the United States,

there literally is no coverage of these issues. And all too often, again, let's just be honest, if it's a white country, all of a sudden it's of America's concern. And so it is important that we shine the light on this. That's what Claude Barnett's Negro Associated Press did back in the day with their news service. And that's why it's important that our voices do the same. And so I thank Joe Madison for sending Simon my way. So there we go, Simon. You're there.

Kelly, go ahead and ask your question of Simon. Yes. Thank you for coming on the show. This entire situation mirrors very closely, at least to me, yet another example of failed nation building on behalf of the U.S. So with that said, do you think that this crisis is America's fault in total? Or did America just exacerbate an issue that was already bubbling underneath the surface, so to speak? And in either situation, whether you think this country is completely at fault or whether

we just contributed to the crisis, what steps need to be taken on behalf of this country to make sure that South Sudan is made as whole as possible? And I have to give you my honest opinions and the honest answer. Yes, indeed, the United States created Southern Sudan, in which they should have whole Southern Sudan to a point where they will be able to walk by themselves. They will be able to even know how to balance the books by themselves. But unfortunately, the United States put itself or herself in a position of delivering a baby and hernatriter to a mom and walk away without even knowing what kind of situation will emerge after the

birth. United States, as I said, for all those years, all the women who tried to be committed, we are talking eight years now, all they have to do, always, threat, threat, threat, talk, talk, talk.

I don't believe in talk, talk. I believe in walk to walk. The way we did walk and create broad peace between the north and the south, the United States would have done that in a very simple way, by hauling those rulers of southern Sudan. Hey, you didn't come here by yourself. You came here with our help. And we help you not because of you, we help because of people of Southern Sudan. In other words, all these leaders of

Southern Sudan, so-called rulers, every each person of them have a big mansion in Nairobi, have a big mansion in Kampala. And people like John Fagas,

George Cooney, they document all these things, but no action being taken on the top of the country, on the leadership of people who created southern Sudan. They documented what atrocity being committed. They documented how much

the resources being looted by the president. And then when they're always trying to take action, what will they do? Sanctions just the doorkeepers, sanction the bodyguard. Why not sanctioning President Kir himself? The man that happened to be part of the problem, he created a war in 2013 by calling that there is a coup, which was not. The African Union made a commission led by the former president of Nigeria, Obusange.

The result was that, to everybody's eyes, there was no coup. It was Salva King himself who created a problem to divest that because some of his leaders in his own party was holding him to telling that, no, we are going to go for elections, then you will not be elected. And that's all. But he wanted to stay in power. And then who paid the price? Half a million guy was killed by him. The slaughter, which is being identified by the United Nations as a genocide. In 2013, when the unit under the President Kyr bodyguard went on a slaughter, one ethnic groups, Nuer in Cuba, door by door. Up to today, we have those who run, who escape, that are being protected by the United Nations in Cuba.

Where did we ever heard that data? Citizens being protected by a foreign country in their own country because they are afraid of their own government. Salva Ki, it is not a leader of people of southern Sudan. Salva Ki is a leader of the tribe. Salva Ki

even went beyond by turning on my ethnic group, the Shulu Kingdom, taking our lands and giving it to the Densha tribes. With today, the entire Shulu Kingdom, the oldest kingdom in Sudan and southern Sudan. We are now in the northern Sudan.

There is no single one, especially in my entire family, in southern Sudan. We are in the north. In the north, in a situation where you cannot even look at yourself as a human being. Because we are not being considered as citizens, we are refugees, we are not being considered as citizens. We are refugees. We have not been employed.

Southern Sudanese kids, our kids, our nieces, selling their body in the street in Khartoum because of Salbaki. These men are begging the U.S. The U.S. have to look in their conscience and hold these men accountable of the crimes

that he committed on innocent people, people that he denied the dividend of peace. We brought the independent of that country. We fought for that country, for independence. After we got the independence, what would happen? Salva Ki became the

most master person on earth. He is ruling. I think he took the page from Josephus Thailand by manipulating international. He deceived the US, he deceived the UN, he deceived African Union and even he deceived the eager. At the moment we're speaking he will sign peace and he will not implement peace. He will sign another peace, he will not implement peace. To a point he went where even the Pope called him. And Pope went and washed his feet and kissed his feet

to go back and implement the peace agreement. What did he do? He went back and he talked about this agreement, it is not a Bible, this agreement, it is not a grant, cannot be implemented, it is very complicated. Why nobody asking him? What you see today, and you didn't see at the time when you signed peace agreement, your team was there to ratify that agreement, and now you're turning on us.

This is the third time. The third agreement, Selva Key, is refused. And we're looking at him. My fellow human being. Right. There is no peace will be to the people of southern Sudan as long as that man is sitting on them. Well, Simon, we're going to continue to keep our focus on this issue. I can assure you of that.

I was a participant in an African-American media roundtable a couple of days ago with United States senators. Joe Madison was very specific in asking and challenging those senators with regards to what's happening in South Sudan, what's happening in Ethiopia, what's happening in Cameroon as well. And so I assure you we're going to continue doing that. We thank you for your involvement. Before you leave, I want to say something. Go ahead. You know, there is a double standard in the world. When the crime happens in the black country in the continent,

we don't see because they're so far away. They are black. We do not see them. Elsewhere, we will be there, unfortunately. But I'm appealing to my brothers and sisters. Please, the world become very smaller. I, as Simon, as a former slave, I never thought I would be talking to you today. But I'm blessed.

That's why I'm here as the voice of those who have no voice at home. Thank you. Simon, I appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Thank you. Thank you, brother. All right, folks. Going to a break. We come back. We talk about how your money, your taxpayer money, you know,

that was supposed to be used for COVID relief, why in the hell have been cities just using it for police departments? That kind of makes no sense. We're going to talk about it next. Don't forget, download the Black Star Network app, folks. All the platforms, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Xbox One, Samsung, Smart TV as well. YouTube folks, y'all are slow hitting the like button. I told y'all I shouldn't have to be asking y'all this.

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And so I'm showing y'all all their names right now. Report every single one of them. Cash App did email me back today. They are trying to steal your money. And so I'm showing y'all all their names right now. Report every single one of them. Cash App did email me back today. They are investigating. I'm trying to get every single one of these thieves shut down for trying to steal your dollars. Folks, I'll be right back. On the next A Balanced Life, as we grind down to the end of another long winter, it's easy to slip out of balance and into the foggy doldrums.

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All right, folks. Independent journalist Brian Dallin wrote the piece called It's a Money Grab. Billions in COVID relief going to fund police in prisons. He follows the money right into the hands of law enforcement. What the hell? He joins me now from Urbana, Illinois. Brian, glad to have you here.

I remember seeing the story where the mayor of Chicago He joins me now from Urbana, Illinois. Brian, glad to have you here. I remember seeing the story where the mayor of Chicago said that, oh, you know, things are just so tough for police officers. And they're just going through so much. And so we're going to use this money to create a wellness opportunity for them and all of that. But walk folks through how crazy money that was supposed to be for residents, fighting COVID, we're funding cops in prisons. That's right, Roland.

Thanks for having me on. It's no April Fool's joke. There's millions and billions of dollars being spent on police. And Chicago is some $281 million. That's like 45% of the city budget is being spent to fund the Chicago police, which, as you know, have a notorious history of brutality in the black community in Chicago. This is happening in L.A. as well. In L.A., there's some 300-plus million that was given out to the LAPD. No shortage of police scandals there either. So it's a big handout here that is going out to police.

And as you noted, it's quite ironic. This is money that's set aside to help communities, small businesses, impacted communities. You know, the black community was really torn apart in some places, like 40 percent of deaths in the early stages of COVID. Forty percent of deaths were in the black community. So I talked to activists. They believe that 40 percent of COVID money should go back to the communities and not to the police. See, this this is the thing that happens in America. All of these people whining and complaining about defund the police when we're talking about resources. And I swear, I ain't never heard a police department say, y'all know what? We got enough money. We good. Y'all have given us

enough money. It's always more, more, more, more. It's always the answer to everything. But then anything else in the city, it's, hey, sorry, we ain't got it. We out. That's right. And so there's a real chance now, I think, for activists in the community to struggle over this money, to fight over the money. You know, I really appreciated your segment on Kansas City. You know, I'm from Kansas myself, so I know the Kansas City police, and there's a large, significant Black community there, historic Black community. And I was just digging up the numbers there. They had some $260 million allocated in the recent 2022-23 budget.

$269 million are allocated to the police. A chunk of that is coming out of ARPA funds. This often gets hidden under personnel, but this is—these are handouts to the police, to recruiting to police for overtime. And this is fattening already fat budgets, as you know. Questions from my panel. Matt, you're first. It was fantastic. What I wanted to ask you was, how are these police departments and prisons getting this money that is intended for COVID relief? How are they going about doing that? I'm assuming it's through a grant process, but what are they having to claim justifies them getting money that is obviously earmarked for COVID relief, number one?

And by contrast with that, how are other communities that are using it to beef up mental health resources and some of the alternatives to policing, how are they getting the money in those instances? Yeah, right. Thanks. It's a two-part piece here. Like in Alabama, they're just using the money. They got the money. So in Alabama, they're planning on spending $400 million on three new prisons. That's a prison project that the governor has been stumping for for several years now. And now that there's this big influx of cash due to COVID relief, federal funding, they're pushing through on funding these new prisons. I talked to activists on the ground and it's folks with the Alabama Justice Initiative. That's Latonya Tate.

And I talked to Veronica Johnson from my article and they fought it. They went around to the small towns in Alabama and fought the prison proposal and stopped it. And yet still the state and the governor is going through with their plans. They appealed to the U.S. Treasury Department. The Treasury Department came out and said you can't use the money on prisons. And the governor is still moving forward.

So far, at least, the Biden administration has not stepped in to intervene in Alabama. So this potentially gives a green light to all other states, jurisdictions, to use this money pretty much willy-nilly, however they want to. Now, there are some cases where there are smaller amounts of money that people are struggling, fighting for. I talked to people in South Bend, Indiana, who are using millions of dollars to open up a crisis center that police, instead of taking people to jail, they'll be able to take people to this crisis center. So there are ways. In my own community, I live in Illinois, in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois. We have a reentry program here.

They got around a million dollars from the local city government in order to support a reentry program. That's a program that's in great need here in Illinois. So there are ways in which people are struggling to get the money back. I really like to, in my journalism, like to highlight people on the ground who are really fighting the good fight to try to get the money in the right hands. But it's going to be a fight everywhere. Kelly? Yeah. How is this not fraud? How are these entities able to do this? Because, and I'm sure you recall, there was like what felt like a campaign against people who misappropriated PPP loan money, you know, and disguised themselves as LLCs and other, you know, corporate entities trying to get loan money from the government during COVID-19. And it just felt like people were, like the chickens were coming home to roost and all of that money was getting grabbed

back to the government and they were being jailed. So how are you able to, as a government, misappropriate funds on an application that is what I'm assuming to be quite specific as regarding how to spend it? How is this not fraud? Yeah, well, the federal government hasn't really stepped in to provide any kind of discretionary measures to prevent this. So budgets, they're just putting this under some personnel costs, a general fund. And it's starting to come out. It's coming out bit by bit about what this money is being spent on. So there was just another story that came out this week that several departments are using this to purchase police drones and other police technology, like automated

license plate readers. And even President Biden has promoted these shot spotters. They're supposed to detect gunshots. And they're highly flawed technology. But we have to question the Biden administration. We know that Biden back in the 90s supported the crime bill, was the architect of the crime bill. And so I think many activists saw this coming and are quite disappointed, but maybe not surprised that this is all allowed to go on under the Biden administration. Michael?

All right, Brian. Hey, thanks for writing this article and coming to share this information with us today. So I have a lot of questions, but one of the questions that I have is, what has been the response from members of Congress, especially Democrats in Congress, but you have Republicans that represent Alabama as well, but especially Democrats, because no Republicans voted for the American Rescue Plan, even though it benefited a lot of people in America, a lot of Republicans. No Republicans voted for it. So what has been the response from members of Congress, especially Democrats, in how this

money is apparently being misused for police departments? JOHN YANG, Former U.S. Attorney General, Well, it's mostly widespread denial, I think. Biden has come out in the State of Union address claiming that he's proposing another $30 billion for police. And against claims and campaigns over the last two years, the call to defund the police, the Democrats have done a 180. And after kneeling with Kente Kloss, after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police, now they're going around saying, we don't need to defund the police, we need to fund the police. And they're allocating billions for it. And they're lining up behind Biden and other candidates for the midterms. So the Democrats have really turned

their back on advocates in the streets who have been calling for police reform. Keep in mind here, these are in L.A. and Chicago and Kansas City, police budgets make up 40, 50 percent of the total city budget. So when we talk about defunding the police, we're talking about reducing these huge budgets for the police. And, you know, while there's some people have taken first steps, in most all cities, there's been very little progress made. And by Democratic and Republican Party leadership, there's been really no advocacy for what's going on the streets. I mean, we have another summer coming up here in 2022. Are there going to be more police killings of black youth?

We're likely to see it again. And we're just going to keep playing out this narrative and keep watching these videos until there's some real change. All right, then. Man, again, you're right. Look, what you have Democrats is trying to respond, oh, midterm elections, they're freaking out. Conservatives are hitting them, talking about the whole crime is skyrocketing.

And they are just racing to throw more money at the cops. But it's not, again, being spent properly and wisely. And so we'll keep that pressure going on. Great reporting there. Folks, go to, pull it up, please. Go to theappeal.org. Theappeal.org. Theappeal.org. We've, of course, we've had several of their stories before.

They do some great work covering the critical issues dealing with, again, criminal justice reform, what's happening out there, protesting as well. So, theappeal.org. Thanks a lot. Thank you, Roland. All right, folks, going to break. We come back. Our Black and Missing, some breaking news involving Will Smith. Will Packer speaks exclusively to Good Morning America. We'll show you that. And also, you'll hear from Dr. Cecilia Rouse, the top economic advisor, President Joe Biden. She talks about the great job numbers. The report that came out today, folks, a lot more here. And yes, y'all heard me last night. Y'all know I made it to the new edition

Charlie Wilson concert last night. No ticket, but I am Uncle Roro. We'll be back in a moment. First, get to the bins over the window seats. These are the only bins that will accommodate larger rollerboards. You put 10 in here? Tin, and you don't come out until you die. And you eat him, he who bids.

Oh, my God. Субтитры создавал DimaTorzok Pull up a chair, take your seat at the Black Tape. With me, Dr. Greg Carr, here on the Black Star Network. Every week, we'll take a deeper dive into the world we're living in. Join the conversation only on the Black Star Network. On the next A Balanced Life, as we grind down to the end of another long winter, it's easy to slip out of balance and into the foggy doldrums. On the next A Balanced Life, ways to push through the gray days until the warm days of spring arrive. Join me, Dr. Jackie, on A Balanced Life on Black Star Network. All right, folks. Black and Missing, y'all.

Kennedy Guillory, last seen in Lake Charles, Louisiana, on January 30th. January 30th. The 16-year-old is 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighs 120 pounds, with brown hair, brown eyes. Anyone with information on Kennedy Guillory's whereabouts, please call the Lake Charles, Louisiana Police Department at 337-491-1-3-3-7-4-9-1-1-3-1-1. All right, folks, some breaking news here. Just in, Will Smith has resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

as a result of him slapping Chris Rock Sunday at the Academy Awards. Of course, the Academy, they have launched an investigation, and as a result, they have done this. This is the statement that Will Smith has released as a result of this. Give me a second. I'm just going to go in and try to see if I can share this screen. Just give me one second, folks. I want to show you this.

This is, I'm reading from a story in Variety as they talk about, as they have the Will Smith story here. He says, other nominees and winners of their opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work. I am heartbroken. That is the. And then it says Smith also acknowledged that his actions overshadowed other winners of the 94th Annual Academy Awards. I want to put the focus back on those who deserve attention for their achievements and allow the Academy to get back to the incredible work it does to support creativity and artistry in film. It's concluded, he stated, concluding with change takes time.

I'm committed to doing the work to ensure I never again allow violence to overtake reason. Now, today on Good Morning America, an exclusive interview with TJ Holmes. Oscar producer Will Packer sat down and shared his thoughts on what happened on Sunday night. Here is some of what he said. I said, watch this. He's going to kill. Because I knew he had an amazing lineup of jokes that we had. We had them in the prompter, and ultimately he did not get to one joke. He didn't tell one of the planned jokes. He was just immediately freestyling. But I tell you, if there's anybody that you don't worry about going out

in front of a live audience and riffing off the cuff, it's Chris Rock. Nobody's better. And I thought this was part of something that Chris and Will were doing on their own. I thought it was a bit. I thought it was a bit like everybody else. I knew he hadn't practiced it.

Not concerned. I wasn't concerned at all. As he's walking. I figured, okay, you know, he's going to say something or come at him. Something funny is going to happen because that's the nature of Chris and that's the nature of Will.

So let's see what happens. Once I saw Will yelling at the stage with such vitriol, my heart dropped. And I just remember thinking, oh no, oh no, not like this. And Chris was keeping his head when everybody else was losing theirs. And then, you know, gave the quote. That was the greatest night in the history of television. Okay. But my heart at that point was just in my stomach because of everything about it and what it represented

and what it looked like and who was involved. All of that was just... I never felt so immediately devastated. The LAPD made it clear, we will do whatever you want us to do. And one of the options is that we will go and arrest him right now. They were saying, you know, this is battery was the word they used in that moment. They said, we will go get him. We are prepared.

We're prepared to get him right now. You can press charges. We can arrest him. You have, they were laying out the options. And as they were talking, Chris was, he was being very dismissive of those options. He was like, no, I'm fine. He was like, no, no, no. And even to the point where I said,

I said, Rock, let him let him finish. The L.A. officers finished laying out what his options were. And and they said, you know, would you like us to take any action? And he said no. Shayla told me that they were about to physically remove Will Smith. And I had not been a part of those conversations. And so I immediately went to the academy leadership that was on site. And I said, Chris Rock doesn't want that. I said, Rock has made it clear that he does not want to make a bad situation worse. That was Chris's energy. His tone was not retaliatory.

His tone was not aggressive, angry. And so I was advocating what Rock wanted in that time, which was not to physically remove Will Smith at that time. Because as it has now been explained to me, that was the only option at that point. It has been explained to me that there was a conversation that I was on a part of to ask him to voluntarily leave. I probably have a different perspective on that, TJ, because I was in the room and I know a lot of those people. And so it wasn't like this was somebody they didn't know. It doesn't make anything that he did right.

It doesn't excuse that behavior at all. But I think that the people in that room who stood up, stood up for somebody who they knew, right? Who was a peer, who was a friend, who was a brother, who has a three decades plus long career of being the opposite of what we saw in that moment. I think these people saw the person that they know and were hoping that somehow, some way, this was an aberration. He's going to stand on stage and maybe Chris Rock comes from the back and says, ah, we got you all, you know. I don't think that these were people that were applauding anything at all about that moment. And all these people saw their friend at his absolute worst moment and were hoping that they could encourage him and lift him up and that he would somehow try to make it better.

I mean, this is... Today is Friday. Today is Friday. And Kelly, what I said on Monday, what I said on Monday, I said, I hope Will meets with Chris face-to-face on Tuesday, by Tuesday, to personally apologize. I said, otherwise, I know what's about to happen. This is going to be a constant media firestorm.

The thing that I am always trying to tell people, it's like, yo, I've been in this news business my entire life. And every action, everything that happens, if another thing happens, it's another news cycle. And so Monday's news cycle was the slap. Tuesday's news cycle was the apology. Wednesday's news cycle was the academy saying they asked them to leave. We knew they were lying.

Then we saw the other stories. And then Thursday. So now here we are Friday. And now there's the investigation. And then now the members of the academy are hot because apparently on Tuesday, there was a six-minute Zoom between Will and the president and the CEO of the academy or the chair. And they didn't tell anybody. It's back and forth.

Again, this is the thing that Chris has his show in Boston. He speaks about a minute on the whole deal. It goes on. And people keep saying, like, as a matter of fact, that was a tweet from Questlove where he was like, can we end this? It ain't going to end. It's not going to end until literally they finish their investigation and you have some resolution, if you will, to what's going on. Kelly, go ahead.

Like Questlove, I am tired of talking about this situation, but it is in the news cycle, so we're going to do it. This entire situation is just unfortunate. one of, if not the most Black-oriented Oscar ceremony we've ever had in its 94-year history. And no one's going to remember anything except these two Black men acting a fool on stage. Really one Black man acting a fool on stage and another Black man receiving said foolery. That is the most unfortunate part about all of it. It is sad and it is disgraceful

in that regard. And I don't mean disgraceful in the sense that, you know, oh, it made Black people look bad. I'm not into the respectability politics of it all. I'm really into the fact that this one stole so many other amazing moments that night. Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes on the same stage doing what they do best. No one's gonna remember that. Questlove winning an Oscar for his documentary that by all accounts is absolutely phenomenal. No one's gonna remember that.

The first openly queer Afro-Latina won an Oscar that night. No one even knows that. All we are talking about is Will Smith and Chris Rock. And it is infuriating to me that so many people's moments were stolen because of one man's stupidity. That is just so unfortunate to me and just wrong. This is the tweet that Questlove sent out this morning. This morning, can we finally stop talking about it? Here's the deal. The reality, Michael, is that people are not.

And this is the thing that I kept trying to explain to people. I mean, the level of energy when you're talking about two of the biggest names in entertainment. I mean, Chris Rock is literally embarking on a world tour with Kevin Hart to comic legends The two biggest in comedy right now on a tour together around the world sold out shows around the world then you have the biggest

movie star. Folks, listen to me. The acting chops of Denzel, phenomenal. Denzel cannot touch the box office and mass appeal of Will Smith. Rapper, TV show, big screen star, Will's got stuff on National Geographic, he's doing stuff with YouTube, all of that, those forces collide on a show that is seen in 100 plus countries worldwide. Folks are going to keep talking about it.

And then every action. Again, the apology, story. Academy investigation, story. Will's interview, story. Will Packer's interview, story. His resignation, story. Jada's tweet about healing, story. It is the nature of where we are.

It's a huge story, Roland. It's a tragedy. I started covering this Monday night on the African History Network show. I didn't deal with it Tuesday. I dealt with it Wednesday and Thursday. We know that a formal review was launched by the Academy on Monday. I think, you know, Will Smith, there was a report from either New York Daily News or New York Post, I've read so many articles, that said that Will Smith has been on edge the past few months because of stories in the media about he and Jada's relationship. I watched it. I watched Will's acceptance speech live when I got finished doing my show Sunday night. I watched it live and I was hoping that he would apologize to Chris Rock in the acceptance speech.

And he did not. And I was and even though he put out an apology on I think it was either Monday or Tuesday, he put out an apology on Instagram. He has not talked to Chris Rock in person or over the phone or something like that to apologize. So it was a fantastic interview that Will Packer did this morning. It helped to, I think, clear up some misinformation that's been floating around on social media. I wish he had done the interview here on Roland Martin Unfiltered, but he did it on Good Morning America. Also, in that interview, I didn't hear anything in that interview that said the Academy lied either. You know, so there's – from the reporting that I've read, and I've read numerous articles on this, there was one group of leaders in the Academy that wanted Will Smith to leave. There was another group that didn't want him to leave,

and they're arguing back and forth, and they're arguing with Will's representatives also. So, you know, this is really an example of how even someone who has what many people think they want to have, the wealth, the Academy Award, the success. More money, more problems. You still got problems. Well, it's that and just, yeah, and that's the thing that people don't quite understand, don't get. You know, the thing here, give me a second, because I actually found the actual full statement. What he said was that, just do not pull it up, please.

I'm trying to remove this email from the top. So just hold on. Okay. There we go. Here we go here. First of all, he said, I have directly responded to the Academy's disciplinary hearing notice, and I will fully accept any and all consequences for my conduct. My actions at the 94th Academy Awards presentation were shocking, painful, and inexcusable.

And then that's when he goes on to say, the list of those I've hurt is long, and it includes Chris, his family, many of my dear friends and loved ones, all those in attendance and global audiences at home. I betrayed the trust of the Academy. I deprived other nominees and winners of their opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work. I am heartbroken.

I want to put the focus back on those who deserve attention for their achievements and allow the Academy to get back to the incredible work it does to support creativity and artistry and film. So I am resigning from membership in the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and will accept any further consequences the board deems appropriate. Change takes time and I am committed

to doing the work to ensure that I never again allow violence to overtake reason. Matt, here's the good. People are already asking. No, this does not mean that Will Smith can't act. No, you don't have to actually be a member of the Academy to be able to act. What it means is he is not a voting member of the Academy when it comes to the folks, when it comes to not vote for the Oscars.

What it also means is, depending upon what the board decides, he's still eligible to be nominated for awards in the future. But the reality here, Matt, and I got people who are saying, well, you know, why are you still talking about it? Because the reality is it is still news. It is still a news story. So whether you like it or not, it is still a news story. That's what it is, Matt. It's a news story.

It's a news story involving two of the biggest entertainers in the world, as you said. And I think it's a news story that sheds a light on some of the things that we talk about here, including criminal justice. I'm a big Will Smith fan. I always have been. But the reality is he committed a crime in front of millions of people and was not arrested. The fact that LAPD went and asked whether they wanted him arrested is crazy if you think about it, because people get arrested all the time for things that are on video and police develop probable cause days later and go hook them up. So I don't say that to make an indictment of Will Smith, as much as I say it to say this is an interesting situation

and a situation that is obviously news because of who's involved, but it's also a situation that shows that kind of to Michael's point, you know, everything that glitters ain't gold. But the reality is this doesn't happen to an average person. If you went up to somebody and slapped them at their job on a surveillance video, wherever you are, the police are coming and hooking you up. They didn't hook up Will Smith because he's Will Smith. And I don't know what you take from that, but that's what I think contributes to the fact that this is going to be a major news story because it involves such major people. So let me also say this,

and this is the last thing I'm going to say on this before I go to my next story. And that is, I've got a couple of more stories before we end the show. Some of y'all in the chat saying, well, I'm tapping out till you cover some real news. First, we've been covering real news. First, we've been covering real news all day. It's reality is it is breaking news. Others are saying that, well, Roland, you shouldn't be covering this. Here's why y'all are wrong. The reason you're wrong is

because, see, we don't cover this. Go to seven. If we don't cover this, then the voices that you are going to hear framing this largely don't look like me. And then the voices that you hear framing this and discussing this, those individuals, then they get to control what the narrative is. Now, see, I know some of y'all are sitting here saying, well, you know, I hear you, I hear you. But guess what, y'all? The viewer count on our YouTube page has increased since we started this story. Mm-hmm.

Yeah. I just want y'all to understand. Monday, we had nearly 10,000 live viewers on YouTube alone because they want to hear this story. And we discussed it in the first hour. The moment I went to a break on Monday, we lost 3,000 viewers between going to break and coming back from break to begin our second hour. So I want you to understand that. But here's also why I need you to understand why perspectives matter. And that is the same segment that

we did on Monday, breaking down what we call the deconstruction of what happened. We then posted that video the next day on our YouTube channel. And I looked up the stats earlier. As a matter of fact, I'm going to see if I can pull it up right now. Here it is. I want you all to look at, you should be able to pull this up. It says, this video

is appealing to a wider audience, contributing to 73% more views than usual. That deconstruction video that we did, where we offered a sound, reasonable, thoughtful discussion on what happened. It has gotten 56,849 views since published. Now, first of all, it's actually more than that. But it says that in terms of referrals, but it says

your videos typically receive 8,000 to 32,000 in the same time frame. It's gotten 38,662 recommendations. That particular video, y'all, last I checked, has received, let's see here, 1.3 million views. 1.3 million views. 1.3 million views. And so that's important, again, because if we as black-owned media, if we are not establishing the framework of the conversation, somebody else is.

And so I am willing. Y'all can talk all you want to, but I am willing to keep talking about it as long as we are framing it properly. Even the segment I did last night where I talked about don't fall for the okie-doke, Team Will and Team Chris, that's already exceeded 100,000 views. And in fact, I got to go ahead and do this. I know I did not want to have to go. I didn't want to go this deep into this here. But, you know, I really, it bothers me when people say dumb stuff. It really bothers me when they say dumb stuff.

Like, it actually pisses me off when they say dumb stuff. Like, it actually pisses me off when they say dumb stuff. I had a state, there's a state official in Texas. She's a state rep. She actually had some words for me on her Facebook page where she thought she was calling me out. Give me on one. She thought she was calling me out, and she had the nerve to say on her Facebook page, and she said this here. Sharing my comment from another thread where it said we shouldn't take sides on the issue

and should be both team willing, team willing. Nope, this is not Switzerland, Roland Martin. Time to pick the side of right. We can't just say the white man or the media is the reason for this fallout. Both of these men have millions of fans of all races who care about them, but it was only Will Smith who committed the battery against another black man who was simply doing his job. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Come back.

I just want y'all to know, if you look at this here, go back, that it's Sean Theory who said that. Now, some of y'all may be looking at me saying, well, who the hell is Sean Theory? Well, this is her Twitter page. Sean Theory is a Texas state representative. She follows me on Twitter. So I would send Sean's comments. And, yes, I had to respond. And this is what I said, because see, this is putting in perspective why y'all need to understand why black media matters, black-owned media matters.

I said it's always wise for some folks to check their facts before they ever mention my name. Otherwise, I'm going to drop some CVS long receipts on you. Today, that means you, Texas Representative Theory. She posted on her Facebook page the following comments. I said, let me handle this now. And I did. I said, first, Representative Theory, I'm not Switzerland. I made my position on the Will Smith Slack very clear on Monday, link attached.

That video has gotten 1.3 million views on YouTube. I also warned folks not to fall for the Academy's CYA attempt, link attached. I then said to Representative Theory, second, if you actually listened to my segment last night, I warned black folks not to fall for the spin to try and blame Will Packer for asking Will Smith to stay. Now what I

warned folks about the okie-doke is exactly what you are doing, Representative Theory. I am laying out the media games of shifting the narrative and trying to force us to pick sides. We should be team Will and team Chris. We should care about both. So actually watch and listen to what I said. And if y'all scroll down here, you'll notice she ain't responded. I think those CVS receipts did the trick.

Folks, never, ever, never, ever go to we should move on if you don't understand how media has always controlled the conversation and controlled the narrative. And the media's framing of a story has the ability to shift public opinion one way or the other. No. I will not be sitting this out because I'm not going to let them shift and control

the narrative. And that's why we have Black on Media. When we come back, we're going to talk here from Dr. Cecilia Rouse about the economic numbers that came out today. Then we're going to talk to the sister who's running for state superintendent in Georgia. I told y'all, down-ballot racist matter. Don't go anywhere.

You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Folks, Black Star Network is here. Oh, no punching! real uh revolutionary right now support this man black media he makes sure that our stories are told i thank you for being the voice of black america roll it i love y'all all momentum we have now we have to keep this going the video looks phenomenal see this difference between Black Star Network and Black Owned Media and something like CNN. You can't be Black Owned Media and be scape.

It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? Alright, folk, big jobs report came out today. The federal government report shows the U.S. economy added 431,000 jobs in March. That brings the unemployment rate to a new pandemic-era low of 3.6%. The job gains were lower than economists had expected, but they still rounded up a solid first quarter for the U.S. labor market. President Joe Biden says that job creation has been at an all-time high since he has been in office. Over the course of my presidency,

our recovery has now created 7.9 million jobs, more jobs created over the first 14 months of any presidency and any term ever. And that's striking. But what's even more striking is this. In March, the unemployment rate fell to 3.6 percent, down from 6.4 percent when I took office about 15 months ago. The fastest decline in unemployment to start a president's term ever recorded. In fact, there have been only three months in the last 50 years where the unemployment rate in America is lower than it is now. All right, the U.S. economy is now just 1.6 million jobs

short of where it was in February of 2020 before the pandemic hit. Earlier today, I talked to Dr. Cecilia Rouse, the chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisors. Here is what she had to say about today's jobs report and the state of the U.S. economy. All right, this is Dr. Cecilia Rouse. Big Friday for the economy, for the White House, surely as the top economic voice for the president, you must feel pretty good today. Well, today was a day when we got the jobs report. And it was a good day because it reaffirmed the strength that we believe we were seeing in the U.S. economy,

where since we learned that in March, the economy created an additional 400,000 jobs, which means that over the last three months, we've created over half a million jobs per month. So this has been a very strong economy, largely thanks to the American Rescue Plan, the effectiveness of our management of the pandemic, supporting households, supporting businesses. And it reflects that we've got a resilient economy that is positioned to weather the shocks that may come in the future. It's been very interesting as we've been looking at,

how this has been unfolding. And it's not just the job supports that come out, when we also have the adjustments made when it comes to the job reports. I remember last year, I guess it was November and December, and folks were like, oh, my God, this report is so awful. And I was sitting there going, yeah, I might want to breathe. And then two months later people why it's important for some folks to pump the brakes on the initial numbers and understand that that's just, again, the initial. Things also change as you get more data. Absolutely.

So I won't go even further than that. So at the Council of Economic Advisors, we say every month, well, we study every month, and we think about every month, and try to understand what's happening in any one month. We don't like to focus on one month for that reason, which is that these data are the initial read. There will be a revision to these data. For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has added up. They've looked back on January and February and combined in those two months. They have said actually the economy added an additional February, and combined in those two months, they have said actually the economy added an additional 95,000 jobs in those two months.

So, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, they said when they briefed us yesterday that the response rate, they don't have all of their data in yet. They will have additional data that they will have in. They will revise upward or downward, but they will revise their estimates next month as well and the month after. In addition, these are estimates of the economy. And so they use techniques to try to understand what is happening that's usual or not unusual in any one month. And what you're referring to is that in January, they did a whole look back on how they benchmark and how they do adjustments for population because they had the new census. And they made some adjustments to their estimates going back over all of 2021 as well.

So what we like to look at are trends. And what we can see in this labor market is that the trends have been solid. Over the course of the past year, this economy has added 7.9 million jobs. That's in the 14 months since the president took office. We've seen a robust improvement in the labor force participation rate. If you want to look at Black Americans, at the height of or the depths of the pandemic in May 2020, the unemployment rate was 16.8 percent, and today it's down to about 6.2 percent. That's a number I don't want to focus specifically on the 6.2, but the change is dramatic and reflects the strength of this economy. I was watching a conversation take place on a clip that was on Fox Business, and they were complaining that, oh, my God, but, you know, we don't have enough people in the workforce and these increase in wages is what's contributing to inflation.

I never realized that an increase in wages was bad. Well, look, fundamentally we want to see workers being paid according to their productivity. And so, and we want families and workers that have to be paid their fair wage so they can put food on the table, pay their rent. So we welcome wage increases that are based on productivity increases and that truly reflect the increase and what workers are contributing to the employers. The reason why they're worried about it is because wages are a component of a business's cost.

And so the concern is, does that get passed on? Well, the wage increases we've seen to date have been in low-wage workers whose wage increases have actually been higher than inflation. At the moment, it looks as though these are wage increases that reflect the supply and demand mismatch, which is part of working our way through the pandemic. We are keeping our eye on this. At the moment, we don't think it's being baked in in a way that's not sustainable, but it is something we are quite attuned to. So explain in layman's terms, and I'm always trying to use my show as Civics 101 for folks to understand where we are. And even at the news conference today, reporters were shouting to the president, what about inflation? What about inflation? And just give folks an understanding of really why we are at the point now with inflation. I have my own view, and that is we had companies

that were nailed significantly economically in 2020 and 2021. You're seeing price increases because they're trying to make up all the money that they lost. And bottom line is this year, when you've had supply chain demands, we still have it, where you have a robust, people want goods and services, but you don't have enough, and you're not making enough, guess what? The cost of goods are actually going to go up. So, you know, look, we've seen inflation around the world, and it reflects that economies that could afford to do so, governments that could afford to do so, supported their workers and their businesses through the depths of the pandemic.

So that the workers and their families and the businesses had the funds to continue to buy foods, buy goods, to continue making those purchases that they felt they needed to make. At the same time, though, so we had demand was supported. At the same time, what we learned through the pandemic is that the supply was challenged. It was challenged because those very same workers who might have been affected by COVID or in China, they closed down factories, were unable to keep up with the demand. When you have a supply-demand mismatch, so you have too much demand chasing the limited supply, as you pointed out, you're going to have price increases. Americans bought more goods than is typical. Those goods have to be shipped. They have to be built. They have to be shipped. They have to be transported over land to be put into stores or delivered to one's

house. And we had record amounts going through our ports, and the system couldn't quite keep up with the robust demand. That will work itself out. But on top of that, we have the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And what that means is that Russia is a major supplier of gas and oil to the world, a little less so for the U.S., but for the world. So what we've seen is an increase in gas prices and in oil prices. And that not only is affecting prices at the pump, but it's finding its way into other goods as well. So that price increases the president is focused on. He is trying to progress. That's why he did the release of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve yesterday to try to get more oil supply onto the global market. But fundamentally, it is the pandemic and now it is the war that's underlying this inflation.

So the next step here, and that is when you look at these economic numbers, when you look at these job numbers, look, they're supposed to be good. But when you look at poll numbers, they are down. I know you're all about the numbers, but the's going on? Because what I'm seeing in numbers, in poll numbers, is completely different than when you look at what's actually happening with the economic numbers. You know, it's been a really hard two years, Roland, and the president gets it. He is so thrilled that Americans are back to work. We have an economy that's on the move. And that's been so important to him. We know we're not done yet. There's still work to be done. We're still about 93 percent of the jobs that we lost in the course of the pandemic have been regained. But there's still

and there's still people who are out of the labor force who were working before. So we know that there is still work to be done, but he is thrilled that those who want to work are able to get a job. But he gets it. This has been hard, and inflation hits families in their pocketbooks. It's no fun when you go to the grocery store and the price of a gallon of milk or a pound of hamburger or the price of a gallon of gas at the pump is more than your ones used to paying, which is why he is focused on addressing the supply chains, trying to lower costs for families through his economic policies, and trying to adjust the prices at the pump. So, you know, I think it's been a hard two years, but the good news is if we continue to manage this pandemic, we will get to the other side of it and

resume our normal lives. All right. Dr. Cecilia Rouse, always good to see you. Thanks a bunch for breaking it all down for us. It's been a pleasure. Thank you. Just so y'all know, again, the top economic person is a sister. Dr. Cecilia Rouse is a brilliant sister. She also was one of the economic advisors on the president, Barack Obama, but she is the chief economic advisor. All right, y'all. Going to a quick break. We come back. We're going to talk about an important race in Georgia. My next guest is running for statewide school superintendent.

Y'all, I keep telling you, Congress president, all this stuff is important, but who controls our schools is also important. You're watching Rolling Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. I'm Deborah Owens. On the next Get Wealthy, meet Dr. Stacey McCoy, whose American dream became a nightmare because of student loan debt. Whether you're paying $300 a month or eventually I got up to $1,700 a month. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Hold that for just a minute.

You were paying $1,700 a month. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Hold that for just a minute. You were paying $1,700 a month on your student loan? Yes. And I know other people who are paying more than that. Learn the one piece of advice that made all of it go away. Right here on Get Wealthy on Blackstar Network. All right, folks. Every election matters. Every election matters. Every single one.

What about the state school superintendent? Not necessarily, for a lot of people, a sexy race. But when it comes to who controls what's happening in our schools, it doesn't matter. We often talk about Tennessee and Texas and others trying to change textbooks. Education is one of the top targets. We saw that last year in Virginia when they began to target school boards of a critical race theory. We can go on and on and on. In Georgia, five candidates, they're running to unseat the incumbent, Richard Woods, for state superintendent. Alicia Thomas-Searcy is one of them. She joins me

now from Atlanta. Alicia, glad to have you here. You have been very much involved in education, working the charter school space and others. Just walk people through who have no idea what a state school superintendent does. Thank you for having me on, Roland. And thank you for saying, first and foremost, how important this race is. The state school superintendent is responsible for managing the State Department of Education and letting laying out all of the rules from the State Board of Education. And so, as you also may remember, I'm a state former state legislator. I served in the Georgia House of Representatives for 12 years. And when I passed laws that were related to education, the Department of Education and the state board had to promulgate

rules that then were pushed out to the schools to have to implement. So the state superintendent is one of the most critical roles in education because they are leading the state schools. They're helping to set policy. And even more important than that, when the policies and laws are passed, they're responsible for setting those rules and giving guidance to those school districts. And so, obviously, Georgia, red, someone purple state. This is going to be a huge election. Obviously, Senator Raphael Warnock trying to get reelected. You've got Republicans who are trying to rally behind Hershel Walker. You've got Stacey Abrams going to be running for running against like whoever wins, likely Brian Kemp. There's

going to be a lot of interest. And also those two could have significant coattails that could help you or one of the candidates. Now, first off, there are five folks who are running. Is there a primary or is there or is there an open open run? Yes, there's a primary on May 24th for both parties. And, of course, whoever wins the primary faces the other party and the general in November. And so are there any other African-Americans who are running for state school superintendent? Yes. I am the only black woman, however. Okay.

All right, then. And so it's going to be a lot of attention is going to be on Georgia, and we expect a massive turnout in the state. Yes, and you're right. When you talk about my Spelman sister, Stacey Abrams, my Morehouse brother, Raphael Warnock, they're going to lead the ticket, and I frankly think lead the state. But it's going to get a lot of interest.

People care a lot about Georgia. And as we know, the balance of the U.S. Senate hangs with Georgia, right? So who wins this U.S. Senate election matters. And every other policy at the federal level matters based on who wins in Georgia. And so the stakes are extremely high. And, Roland, I would argue that when it comes to education in the state of Georgia and, frankly, around the country, education ought to be right up there. Families around this country and obviously in Georgia are talking about what they want in our education system. And we still have fights here. Today, we had the legislature pass three bills. You talked about Virginia.

There's a playbook happening in this country, and Republicans are playing it. Today, we had the legislature pass three bills. You talked about Virginia. There's a playbook happening in this country, and Republicans are playing it. And so they're trying to ban certain types of books, ban the type of conversations you can have about race in classrooms, the parents' bill of rights, that if you actually read the bill, it sounds like it's going to be a big deal, but it's frankly just reinstating all the rights that parents already have. But Republicans have figured out that if we engage parents, if we talk about how they need to be empowered and they need to have more decision making in classrooms and what's being taught, then they get fired up. And so Republicans have

learned that and they're trying to turn them out. And the key is turning out our people and making sure that the right people get in office, because it's just too important right now when we think about the quality of education or sometimes the lack thereof in too many of our schools. Questions from my panelists. Let's see. I'll start with Matt. Well, good evening and thank you for coming on and elucidating us as to what's going on in your campaign. And the question I had for you is, what do you find as the primary issue facing Georgia students now that when you get elected, you'll have to address day one? So I'm going to answer that in two ways. First and foremost, I think the biggest problem is how we politicize education. When we are dividing ourselves, who supports charters and who doesn't? You know, who's supposed to talk about CRT and who's not?

At the end of the day, I sympathize with teachers, and I would argue that's probably one of the most critical issues. Teachers are burned out. They are tired. They need mental health support. We've asked teachers to do way too much in the last couple of years without any real resources. I think about the fact that teachers have had to teach virtually first without any real training. How it is that in 2022, we don't provide the teachers the support that they need to learn how to teach in an age of technology is beyond me. And so I actually had a town hall meeting last night with teachers across the state, and it was heart-wrenching to hear their

frustration, their sadness, how disconnected they feel. They don't feel like we respect the profession anymore. And so if we don't get it right for teachers, if They don't feel like we respect the profession anymore. And so if we don't get it right for teachers, if we don't pay attention to what they need, how are we expecting education to work in our state? Let's see here, Kelly. Sure. So in that same vein, what does the ideal educational system look like for you? And how do you plan on getting the state of Georgia to reflect that plan as closely as possible? That's always, you know, the complex question that requires a complex answer. And let me say, as a former superintendent, so I served in the legislature 12 years, served as a superintendent for three years, and I can tell you what worked in the schools that I led. First and foremost, starting with having excellent school leaders. All of the adults that are standing in front of our children have to have high expectations for them. I don't care if you're in a charter school,

a traditional magnet, whatever it is, you have to have adults who have high expectations for kids. Time out for, well, they're poor, they have social issues, we can't teach them. No, we've got to make sure that those high expectations exist for all children. Secondly, we do have to acknowledge that kids are coming into our schools with some real challenges. And as much as we like to just, you know, let them come in and shut the doors and say, forget what's happening out there, that's not the reality that we face. And so one of the things that I like in Fulton County here in Georgia, there's a school that has what's called a safe center, where students who are having a bad day, as an example, can come

in and get some mental health support. They have tutors in the room who also make sure that they get their work done. They have a clothing closet for their parents, so if they have a job interview and need something to wear, they have that. And then they do a food pantry on the weekend to make sure that those families have the support that they need. And so it's wraparound services. It's excellent school leaders.

It's well-prepared, well-resourced, well-respected teachers, again, who are standing in front of our students. And it's a curriculum that is culturally relevant. It's unbelievable to me that we are talking about what we're teaching and what we're not teaching in terms of history in this country, when we ought to be talking about making sure that the curriculum that they get is culturally relevant. And then finally, I would say I also want to spend some time talking to stakeholders when I become state school superintendent, because as I as I talk to my daughter, who's a ninth grader, she was having a conversation with my mom about what school looked like, you know, back in the day. And as my mom described to her, essentially the same

educational environment that she is in in 2022, I thought about the fact that if you were to Google what a school looked like in the 1700s, it looks exactly like it does today in 2022. And so I believe that we have to reimagine what public education looks like, because if we're trying to give a telegram education to a TikTok generation, we are sadly mistaken. Michael. Sister Alicia, thanks for coming on today. So can you talk about in this climate of anti-critical race theory laws being passed in various states and this push, and you have white parents showing up at school board meetings acting a fool over something that's not even

taught in schools. How does this play into the curriculums that you're going to help shape and how history, especially history of reconstruction, is being taught in schools in Georgia? We know Georgia is a former Confederate state. So how does all that come together under a Alicia Thomas Searcy administration? It's a great question. I think you first hit the nail on the head that CRT is not being taught in our schools. And if you ask Republicans to even define what is CRT, they cannot tell you. That's a problem. So first it's acknowledging that this is really just a distraction.

This is something out of a playbook. When politicians don't have any solutions to solve problems, they come up with distractions. And that's what this whole CRT conversation is. What concerns me, though, is the fact that there are teachers in school districts today who are fearful about teaching just the basics of American history, just the basics of our state standard that does require them to talk about reconstruction. It does require them to talk about slavery and the civil rights movement and Jim Crow, and, of course, the contributions of African-Americans

in our country. And so what does that mean for a state school superintendent? It's understanding what the law says. It's understanding what the process is in terms of what the State Board of Education does and the rules that they promulgate. And it's having the knowledge, the wherewithal, the wisdom and the savviness to provide guidance for school districts so that they understand the difference between what's politics and what's necessary to teach in our classrooms. And so as superintendent, with the background that I have, I would make sure that districts are in fact teaching what is in the Georgia standards, which are all of those topics that we just talked about, and frankly, moving it in the other direction, which is making sure that even more of our

curriculum is culturally relevant. All right. Thank you. All right, then. Well, look, we appreciate it. Everybody got their questions in, right? Yeah, everybody got their questions in. All right, then. Well, look, we appreciate it. Everybody got their questions in, right? Yeah, everybody got their questions in. All right, we appreciate it, Alicia. Good luck, and we'll certainly be watching this race to see what happens there in Georgia. I appreciate you so much. Thank you. All right, thanks a bunch. All right, folks, that's it for us.

But before we go, first of all, let me shout out to Matt, Michael, Kelly for being with us. Man, it's a whole lot of stuff that we've covered today, as we always do. And so I appreciate y'all being on the panel. And I don't know who sent me. Somebody sent me this Winston-Salem State hoodie. I appreciate it. There was no note. There was no card in it.

So I have spoken to the university before. And so y'all know, I only rock HBCU gear where I've actually visited the campus, and so that's always important. Let me also give a shout out my girl, Kim Bond, Coach Kim Bond. She was one of the assistant basketball coaches at Texas A&M. They hired somebody else to actually be the head basketball coach there. She sent me a text message earlier. She actually hit me up while we were on the air. Let me see if I can blow this up down here.

All right, y'all, because trust me, the formatting is off. And so she just got hired as the head basketball coach at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. And she said, look who I ran into today while I was there. And so shout out to the chancellor at Southern Illinois, Austin Lane. He's the former president at Texas Southern University. He's now the chancellor there. And so a great shout out to him.

I was texting him. He's a phenomenal brother. He did a great shout out to him. I was texting him. He's a phenomenal brother. He did a great job there. The TSU people screwed up letting him leave and running him away. But that's what happens. What, Matt? What's up? Can I shout out my boy today?

My son is 12 years old. My son, Stoney. I just want to wish him happy birthday. I love you, son. Happy birthday to Stoney. All right. Matt's shouting out his son, who's a future alpha. All you, son. Happy birthday to Stoney. All right. Matt's shouting out his son, who's a future alpha.

All right, then. So, yeah, shout out to Austin Lane, Lauren Lane. But, again, Coach Bond, SIU, congratulations to you. And let's see, Kelly, you got a shout out. Michael, you got a shout out since Matt, you know, doing shout-out since Matt, you know, doing shout-outs. Y'all got something? My son, man. No shame in that.

I got you. I let you do it. It's all good. Appreciate you, brother. Shouting out the makers of this amazing Bowie State hoodie. Anything Bowie State I pick up, it's by Gaines. Yes, Gaines. You might want to know who the hell it's from before you read it. No, I had it, and then I forgot it, but it's on the shoulder.

But I will post it in my Twitter so that everybody can go and get one. They already sold out, so when the next thing drops, y'all need to get yours. All right, Michael, go ahead with your shout-out. Come on, you got something. I want to shout-out you, Roland Martin, and the Bring the Funk fan club for funding Black-owned media. And the stories that you've covered this week, especially with Black News Channel going bankrupt and being off the air, you're covering stories that mainstream media is not covering.

So I want to give a shout out to you and the Bring the Funk fan club that is financing this as well. Yes, indeed, indeed. So absolutely. So we appreciate that. Bring the Funk fan club that is financing this as well. Yes, indeed. Indeed. So, absolutely. So, we appreciate that. Before I tell y'all what happened last night, so, I don't know about y'all, Matt, Michael, and Kevin.

Let me ask y'all this question. Have y'all ever experienced being at a workplace and put something in the refrigerator and somebody else, like or drink your stuff. Y'all have experienced that? Matt, you experienced that? I might have done it if I'm honest.

Let me tell you something, dog. Let me tell you something, dog. I came to work today. I came to work today. I had some leftover food yesterday from Cheesecake Factory. I had a business meeting. And so I was like, no, I said, I ain't gonna eat the house. I'm coming here. Oh, yeah, Ariel. Oh, yeah. Ariel, let me explain something to you, Ariel. Everything, Ariel, everything might come on the air.

Ask Henry. Ask Henry. Ask Henry. We were at TV One, and Henry made a comment like in the back of the studio that, I know you couldn't put aluminum foil in the microwave. Now, he said he was joking. I heard it on the set, and yes, I came back live and talked about it.

He had his family members call him. Petey, how you didn't know you couldn't put no aluminum foil in the microwave? So I came in here, I said, yo, I'ma heat up my food. I said, I got a cold bottle of Snapple in the refrigerator. How I want- I hear the disappointment. I'm talking, no, no, no, I'm talking about,

look, I felt like Della Reese in Harlem Nights when she was like, where's the goddamn orange juice in the hash? You see there was orange juice in the hash in here. Got my mouth out of set with some orange juice in the hash. I'm sitting here like, yo, I'm about to heat my food up, get me my cold bottle of Snapple while I walk to the refrigerator. We got two refrigerators, y'all. Two refrigerators. Two refrigerators.

Two refrigerators. Matter of fact, since we live right now, let me show y'all this here. I'm about to go ahead and show. Y'all got the camera? Follow me here. Man, follow me here. I hope it goes over here. Man, I come in here. Y'all tell me if the picture goes out. Man, I come in here. Two refrigerators, y'all. I go to the refrigerator. To the top. See the refrigerators? I go to the top.

No snapper. No snapper. Now I'm sitting there like, where in the hell is my snapper? I come back. Ariel, who just started working here, she knew. Ariel goes, oh, I got it.

My bad. She said, I thought I put it in there. I said, Ariel, how in the hell you put something in there? You are not airing her out oh my god

I said Ariel I said Ariel how you didn't know put me back on camera one I said Ariel how you didn't know she said no I normally drink that

but I thought I put it in. I said, Ariel, do you remember putting it in? She was like, no. She said, oh, but it ain't, she goes, it ain't open yet. That's Ariel right there. She goes, it ain't open yet. So she walk in here with the Snapple, hot ass bottle of Snapple.

Must have been on her desk for like four, five hours. I'm sitting there thinking I got me a cold bottle of Snapple waiting on me for my lunch. Yeah, y'all. Hey, you right. Right. I was like, Aaron, are you serious? So we got a new rule now, y'all. We got two refrigerators in the kitchen. The left refrigerator, Ariel, is mine.

The right refrigerator is for the rest of y'all. If y'all refrigerator fill up, y'all go to the bottom shelves and start there and come up. But leave the first two shelves. Anything on the first two shelves is mine. Don't touch it. I'm sounding like my daddy. Look, don't

touch what's on the first two shelves of the refrigerator. We straightened. Now your whole family watching, now they know. They told you, girl, how you didn't know the leak? Y'all, she talking about, oh, I didn't even realize I didn't put it in there.

You didn't buy it? How you... Man, anyway. Okay. All right, y'all. I just had to go ahead and, you know, let her know. You feel better? Yeah, I feel better. I feel fine. I feel fine. All right. Now y'all. I just had to go ahead and, you know, let her know. You feel better? Yeah, I feel better. I feel fine. I feel fine. All right. Now, y'all remember last night, I remember last night I was shocked.

Arrow, like, she's shocked right now. She's like, damn, yeah, Arrow, this a black-ass show right here. This the blackest show you have ever, right. You ain't never seen this on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, no, this is black, this is blackity black, black-owned media, so last night, y'all, we were on the show, and somebody texted me about saying, I can't believe you're not at the Jodeci, Charlie Wilson, New Edition concert, I was like, what, I was like, are you serious? I was like, damn. I didn't realize they were in town. So we're sitting here, and I was like, man, I'm texting. Yo, I'm texting. I'm

texting my boys. I'm sitting here, hitting them up, hitting them up, trying to figure out. And then I tell Alex, hey hey man, take my phone. Alex, he over there, he calling them, I'm trying to get him on the line. And so we end the show last night, and so the staff, they was sitting, I cussed them out, but they didn't even tell me they were in town.

Carol Gant, who's the supervisor and producer, Carol, yeah, I'm calling names. No, no, no, no, no, thank you very much. Carol Gant, like, oh, I ain't realize, I ain't realize, oh, we had a show. I said, Carol, I could have ran something to the damn concert. That's my folks. So I said, well, look, I'm going to go ahead and just go on over there.

I ain't had no ticket. I ain't had nothing. But I am the man. So I just roll up in there, told him, I said, look, I'm here to see my boys. Just take me backstage. And yes, so all of the security people at Capital, what's that called? Capital One Arena? All y'all black. All y'all watch Roland Martin Unfiltered. So they walk me to backstage. I saw my boys. And so I sent the staff the photo y'all just saw right there.

Me right outside Uncle Charlie's dressing room. And so I got to see them. I got to see my boys, New Edition. We got a chance to talk. Johnny Wilson, Johnny Gill, I hollered at Serena Williams, their sister, Sister Isha Pierce last night, with Price, with a great conversation as well. And so it was good to see everybody. Man, it was all good.

And so since Carol didn't tell nobody nothing, I'm going to go ahead and do this, y'all. I'm going to go ahead and just, and look, they couldn't go. They couldn't go with me. Because, see, y'all need to understand something. When you ain't got no ticket, you don't bring two, three folks with you. Now, see, I know some of y'all are real black. Y'all got entourages. I know

Kelly. You know Kelly. You probably be rolling with like you and Kelly be like, hey, Roland, I want to swing by. How many with you, Kelly? Me plus five. Hell no. It can't be six of y'all. Black women known for that. Y'all be talking about me plus five. No. Absolutely not.

So I just told him, I said, look, I said, look, look, can't nobody roll, but I got a guarantee one going to get in, that's me. So I got in. So Carol says, you love New Edition. Carol says she grew up in a Pentecostal house, and her mom and dad didn't let her listen to nothing but New Edition.

It was New Edition, James Cleveland, and Shirley Caesar. That's all she could listen to. And so, I did this here. I shot a little video last night for Carol and the crew. Hey, my bad. Y'all couldn't roll with me, but I did bring a little New Edition for y'all. So, y'all go ahead and experience this a little bit, y'all. Can you stand the rain? Go ahead, go ahead. Stamford Bridge Oh, my God. Let's go. Oh, yeah. Can you stand the rain? Can you stand the rain? Can you stand the rain? First of all, y'all should have seen Matt.

Matt was over there singing. Matt was having some flashbacks to Ken. Hey. Matt, Matt, Matt. I saw you, Matt. Matt, man, I see everything, Matt. Y'all, Matt was having some college flashbacks. Matt was like, oh.

Matt, Matt was even, he was about to do this. Y'all, Matt was about to do this. Matt almost did this here, y'all. He almost went. I saw you, Matt. I saw you. I saw you. Yes, sir. Alright. Alright, y'all. I'm not going to play the whole video. I just want to go ahead

and give y'all a little taste. They coming to town. They're going to be in North Carolina soon. So y'all may go check out my man, Uncle Charlie Wilson, new addition, Jodeci. Maxwell, here tomorrow night, I'll be there. This time I got tickets. So, Max, I appreciate that. Yeah, I call ahead.

So, Maxwell, Anthony Hamilton, we got that. That's it for us, y'all. I appreciate everybody being with us. Great week. Thanks for checking everything out. All the folks who've given, who give to the show, man, y'all are doing a phenomenal job. I got to go home, open all them letters, the cash, them checks, and the money orders.

But a lot of y'all have been giving online as well. I'm going to do a shout-out on Monday to all the people who've given in the last 24 hours. Right now, we always close the show out with our Bring the Funk fan club. I appreciate it. And right after the show, we're going to have our fifth part of our Ghana docuseries. Be sure to check it out.

And then next week, we'll be debuting our Liberia coverage. So, again, a lot of things happening here at Black Star Network. Y'all got to download the app. Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire Stick, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. That's it. All right, folks. We're about to bounce.

Y'all have a great weekend. Have a great April Fool's Day. I'm going to see y'all Monday. Ha! Stay in there. Thank you.